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Ceres In The News

With a flurry of submissions to the Copenhagen Accord expected over the next few days, business groups signal their support for ambitious emission targets. Some of the world's most powerful businesses have today called on world leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos to embrace the Copenhagen Accord and use it to spur a "race to the top" that would see national, state and municipal governments compete to take more ambitious action to tackle climate change.

Legendary House Speaker Sam Rayburn ushered in the 1933 Truth in Securities Act in the grim depths of the Great Depression. It was based on the principle that the purchase and sale of securities should be an honest bargain, and disclosure its cornerstone.

Fresh from a whirlwind tour of non-stop meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos and a U.N investor summit on climate risk attended by George Soros, Al Gore, and 500 of the world's most powerful institutional and private investors, Mindy Lubber has a full plate.

Just pass it? Nike and other businesses, including Starbucks and Portland's Gerding Edlen development firm, called on Congress to approve comprehensive climate change legislation this year and said a "clean energy economy" is the next great economic boom.

Corporate America needs to track its use of energy and resources as closely as it does its hiring and cash flow if it wants to keep pace with social concern about climate change and other sustainability issues, an activist U.S. investor group argues in a new report.

During this year's proxy season, companies are dealing with the implications of guidance issued in January by the Securities and Exchange Commission that requires disclosure of risk related to climate change. At the same time, shareholders increasingly are filing resolutions seeking such disclosure, as well as a broader range of actions, including sustainability reporting and planning for carbon footprint reduction.

Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp explains why she believes information about climate-related risks is so critical for investors. She also gives her take on proposed legislation that seeks to nullify the SEC interpretive guidance.

One of the unexpected twists of the global climate change debate is that the roles of government and business have in many ways been reversed. To traditional greens, business was the enemy, polluting with impunity, and government was the hero, ready to restrain. That was the mindset of environmentalism's first great boom, when landmark legislation like the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act gave Washington the power and the tools to begin cleaning up the country.

Sure, it’s early days for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new guidelines for climate-change risk disclosure, and they aren’t likely to have a big impact on the current reporting season since they were recently released. But that doesn’t mean companies can give the guidelines short shrift. In fact, the move signals that dealing with climate-change issues has officially become serious business for corporations in just about every industry.

Massey Energy, owners of the West Virginia mine that exploded Monday, has drawn criticism for an array of safety violations and environmental issues over the years -- so much so that even some big Wall Street banks refuse to finance the Richmond, Virginia-based company.

Mindy Lubber of Ceres provides a guest view on the weather events around the SouthCoast and New England, touching on how we need a new path after the economic shocks of recent years for our families, our country and our planet.

The city is proposing to build a wind turbine on Moon Island in Boston Harbor that could power as many as 800 homes and intends to use $2.8 million in federal grants to boost energy-efficiency programs. The plans are part of a larger effort by the city to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and better manage the effects of climate change.

Transparency is a cornerstone of our economy. For investors, that means being entitled to hear about the risks of an investment before making a long-term capital commitment. That’s why the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new climate change disclosure guidance is important.